Virginia Highland neighborhood eyes public restroom to address sanitation concerns

ATLANTA - The Virginia Highland neighborhood is considering how to provide a much-needed service for the unhoused community - a public restroom.

After local business owners expressed concern over people relieving themselves in public and on storefronts, the idea was raised to place a public restroom behind Fire Station 19. 

A public restroom could be going in behind Atlanta Fire Station 19 in the Virginia Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. (FOX 5)

"We feel like it’s a great option and a great alternative. We’re hoping that it would be a facility they could use instead of our property and our neighboring businesses," Robin Wright, practice manager of Highland Eye Boutique, told FOX 5. 

Public restroom coming to VaHi neighborhood?

The idea is aligned with policy recommendations from the Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD) which has been involved in conversations with the Virginia Highland community on the matter.

A public restroom could be going in behind Atlanta Fire Station 19 in the Virginia Highland neighborhood of Atlanta. (FOX 5)

In a statement, PAD told FOX 5 that it "engages many people who are unable to attend to basic human needs because local policy has focused on enforcement without infrastructure. Having access to a toilet should not be dependent on having money, just as having access to food or shelter should not be. We applaud community efforts to invest in public infrastructure, which will improve quality of life for all."